There are more questions than answers in this finale.
Way back in issue # 2, a black panther controlled by a weird spirit attacked and was killed by… Black Panther.
Then T’challa visited the mute zones after an earthquake to find out what had happened, encountering a new leader and former friend along the way.
It seems to me that the past of young T’challa must have been an interesting one: full of old and forgotten friends who turn up unexpectedly and help him for a brief period of time, only to disappear again. One has to question the ability of this young man to keep friendships, as they seem just, well, utilitarian.
In this closing issue, we find a new revelation about vibranium. Not only is it an amazing physical resource, capable of creating mechanical animals and powerful suits, but it can also be a spiritual conductor, a sentient being, a powerful force, one that is now after Black Panther.
It’s almost like the mysteries of hidden caves full of resources are just too commonplace. It feels a bit like The Swiss Family Robinson, when a family miraculously saves itself, complete with china cups, ready to live and survive on an island. I used to buy it, but not anymore.
Maybe that is why this feels so anticlimactic. I think you can pack a lot into 24 pages, not just rebukes and possibilities. This is the arena where new movies can be tested, after all. You can do a lot visually and narratively, you can experiment, move stuff around, even become chaotic. Just not in this particular issue.
All I can say is read it and judge for yourselves.
This issue is now available on Comixology and wherever comics are sold.
Featured image by André Araujo for Marvel
